CBD News Headlines

What's Really 'Green'? A Look Beef Finishing on Feedlots
[released on:15/03/2018]
In my last post, I used a science-based green purchasing framework to evaluate sustainability of cattle grazing operations. The first two steps were to identify (1) key impacts of poorly managed ranches, and (2) solutions to each impact. Here I repeat this exercise for beef feedlots. Given the destructive consequences of industrial crop production, evaluating feedlot sustainability encompasses impacts and solutions related to feed supply chains.

Crammed cities go green
[released on:14/03/2018]
Cities are increasingly looking for ways to provide more greenery, as migration to urban areas rises and a growing body of scientific evidence indicates that being close to nature is good for people.

How Can Municipalities Protect Biodiversity And Engage In Conservation?
[released on:15/03/2018]
Municipalities often find themselves struggling to reconcile numerous conflicting interests when it comes to the balancing conservation and urban growth. As the world's biodiversity increasingly comes under threat, including from urban expansion into natural areas, municipalities are recognizing that they have an important role to play in conserving and preserving threatened species and the habitat in which they exist. Municipal responses can be particularly important when other provincial or federal responses are inadequate.

Report: Unchecked Climate Change Will Lead to Widespread Biodiversity Loss
[released on:15/03/2018]
The world will see enormous losses of biodiversity across all species groups on every continent by the end of this century if we do not make deep cuts to global greenhouse emissions, according to groundbreaking research from the WWF and the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change at the University of East Anglia.

Global 'Green Finance' Index Launch Boosts Sustainable Investing Drive
[released on:15/03/2018]
The new Global Green Finance Index ('GGFI'), which has been launched by Finance Watch and commercial think tank Z/Yen today in Brussels, ranks the world's financial centres according to "perceptions of the quality" and depth of their green finance offerings. And, in its inaugural edition - GGFI 1 - western European financial centres outperformed those in other regions.

Swapping Debt for Ocean Conservation
[released on:15/03/2018]
A new initiative is exchanging the alleviation of national debt for government initiatives aimed at preserving marine ecosystems.

European Parliament calls for doubling for LIFE funding in next EU budget
[released on:15/03/2018]
The European Parliament voted to double the funding of the LIFE Programme, the EU's only funding instrument on nature conservation and climate, in the next EU budget post-2020. WWF has long called for LIFE financing to be more than trebled to reach 1% of the next budget, up from 0.3% currently.

Mountains become islands: Ecological dangers of increasing land use in East Africa
[released on:15/03/2018]
The mountains of East Africa are a treasure trove of biodiversity. However, their ecosystems may be at a higher risk than previously realized. Scientists have discovered that Mount Kilimanjaro is turning into an "ecological island". Agriculture and housing construction have eliminated the natural vegetation that used to serve as a bridge to the surrounding area, enabling the diversity of species to develop to its current levels. Neighboring mountain regions are presumably also being isolated from their surrounding areas.

Scientists issue dire warning about future
[released on:15/03/2018]
Five Portsmouth scientists, including a leading ecologist, have added their names to the 20,000 scientists worldwide warning of catastrophe for humankind if we don't change our behavior.